Skis are occasionally lost to theft or unintentional mix up, when left unattended in ski resorts. This may happen, for example, outside mountain restaurants and cafés, where many hundreds of pairs of skis may be deposited from time to time. It is also possible in hotel ski/boot rooms, and outside village bars and restaurants.
Portable security devices have therefore been developed for the ski market. These include, for example, cable or chain combination locks. Some known locks enable one or more snowboards or sets of skis to be secured together and/or to other permanent fixings such as a ski rack or the like. Such locks tend to be marketed as ski locks, but many are in fact generic combination cable or chain locks, which may be used for securing other portable high value items such as bicycles and luggage.
Dedicated ski locks have been developed, including for example locks of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,015. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,015, the skis are locked in a crossed position so as to discourage theft when left unattended for short periods of time. The ski lock disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,015 comprises male and female brackets, which are secured to respective skis for mutual engagement and disengagement. A combination lock is provided on one of the brackets. The male and female security brackets are attached to the upper surface of the skis adjacent the bindings, so that the skis may be locked together in an X configuration. U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,983 provides a hinged clamp, for locking skis together. U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,242 also provides a two-part lock for a pair of skis, and the two parts may be connected by a hinge.
There are various disadvantages associated with this type of ski lock, particularly since the intention is just to discourage theft when the skis are left unattended in a ski resort. Many ski locks do not provide security for the ski poles. Nor can they be used to provide additional security, by enabling the skis to be secured to fixed structures.